The Internet has now become an official advertising medium. It is so commonplace on web that virtually every page has an ad of some sort. Unfortunately, ubiquity does not translate to acceptance, as some ads do affect and annoy people.

While it is a good way to earn some extra cash while running a website, you should know beforehand which advertisements work and which do not. Sometimes, some advertising tricks can undermine both advertiser and your site’s credibility and reputation, and instead of drawing more visitors, drive them away.

Based on a few logical guidelines, your advertisements should, as best as possible, avoid these following attributes:

• Loads slowly
• Blinks on and off excessively
• Tries to trick you into clicking on it
• Occupies most of page
• Moves content around
• Pops-up in front of your window
• Floats across screen
• Does not have a “Close” button
• Covers what you are trying to see
• Automatically plays sound

This is especially true for pop-ups since people have started to defend themselves against pop-ups by using pop-up or ad-blocking software.

What’s Good

Not many ads are actively loved by users, but some advertising techniques do have a positive impact on user experience. Users were particularly pleased with ads that clearly:

• Indicated what will happen if people click on them,
• Related to what people are doing online,
• Identifed themselves as advertisements,
• Presented information about what they are advertising, and
• Provided additional information without having to leave page.

These design elements are tightly connected to traditional Web usability guidelines: make users’ options clear, speak plainly, and provide information users want.

Google's Adwords service has brought success to many businesses by providing them with a large amountl of highly targeted traffic from as little as 2 cents per visitor. However, there is probably an equal number of webmasters who have paid for adwords and seen little benefit or have indeed made substantial losses. If latter applies to you, then following may be of some benefit -

1. Planning

First of all, decide how layout of your ad will appear. Secondly, you should consider what you want to be included in title and what keywords or details you wish to present to potential visitors to your site. Ensure that your text will encourage only targeted visitors to your site in order to avoid expense of wasted clicks. Read through all Google TOS and guidelines before placing your ad or else you risk having it disabled which can lead to charges.

A fair proportion of internet surfers are still very experienced and click on adwords without even realising what it is. Therefore it is a good tip to list prices in your text, so that you can put off clicks from those who would have no intention of purchasing your product or service in first place.

2. Brainstorming

Before beginning a campaign it is advisable to write down as many keywords and phrases as you can think of. The most popular terms are likely to have been bid up to a high price, making all your click-throughs expensive. Think about what your prospective customers would type if they were looking for what you were offering.